In a complex and fast-changing world, we remain focused and resolute in pursuit of our goal – to provide the most appropriate, effective medicine in the harshest of environments. As well as responding to vital needs, our aid is born of a desire to show solidarity with people who are suffering, whether as a result of conflict, neglect or disease.

There is no day that goes past without the impact of an improvised explosive device (IED) making headlines around the world. Of all explosive weapons used, the IED is the most widespread, the most harmful and the most pernicious. Based on the belief that to overcome a problem, we must first understand it, this monitor is a small step in seeking to address the terrible realities of today.
It is a monitor that is, also, a response to a call to action.

Rome, 17 October 2017 – A symposium called Religion and Responses to Migrants and Refugees in Europe: The Catholic Church in Comparative Perspective took place in Rome between 12 and 14 October. It was organized by the University of Notre Dame, together with the Ford Family Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity and the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. The key question it sought to address was how religion can play a role in integrating people and facilitating encounters and dialogue.

Ventimiglia, Italy- As a consequence of the ever-stricter border policies in place in Europe since the sharp increase in migration in 2015, the Italian town of Ventimiglia, near the French border, has turned into the main transit point for migrants trying to reach other EU countries from Italy. Since the end of 2016, Médécins Sans Frontières (MSF) has started providing maternal care and mental health support to migrants in transit to France, who are stuck at the border with no access to basic health care.

(Paris) – Asylum seekers and migrants living in destitution in the port city of Calais experience harassment and abuse at the hands of French police, Human Rights Watch said today. The abuses described to Human Rights Watch include beatings and attacks with pepper spray as the migrants and asylum seekers walked in the street or hid in trucks in the hope of traveling to the United Kingdom.